when I sign in to my apple id, I get a notification but it shows a wrong location.

I have the same problem. Only when signing in to my Apple ID. My iPhone knows that I am in Washington state (in the Maps program, for example), but it notifies me that someone is trying to sign into my account in Arizona. Why does it think I am a thousand miles away? Perhaps it has something to do with the WiFi in my house, which is a satellite-based service. It's annoying in any case, because it acts like an impostor is trying to sign into my account. Based on the timing, I know it's ME.

Same issue here - including when I signed in to this site using 2-step ID! I'm told a log-in has taken place in Edinburgh, Scotland... I'm in Hampshire, England, almost 500 miles away! Does this mean that if I need to trace my computer (or other devices) using Find My Iphone (etc) it won't work?

Absolutely! this has just happened to me as I tried to get my new 2 stage verification process set up on ApplePay using my iPad equipped with mobile data from giffgaff. The message pinpointed Middlesbrough again.

There's nothing designed to make you panic more than to get a message that someone the other side of the country is borrowing your Apple ID when you are setting up a payment mechanism! So I immediately changed my password and tried again. The same thing happened and this time I didn't see any point in changing my password. If someone was on to me so soon after changing it the first time they'd just get it again even if I changed it. However I then found that my new password was not being accepted on another device and neither was my old one, so I was locked out. Fortunately I then managed to find this thread and tried to set up ApplePay again. When I ignored the mysterious person from Middlesborough my PIN number came through and I was able to proceed,

We are taught these days to be very wary of anything suspicious going on on our devices! We should NEVER be put in a position where the only way ahead is to ignore security messages, especially when trying to set up anything to do with money! What's to stop a real hacker who actually happens to be from Middlesborough from sending similar messages to those whose ID they are trying to steal? We can't now just dismiss anything from Middlesborough as being safe!

One would think this is not beypond the capacity of Apple to explain given the number of enquiries it has generated. Hope this helps..

Like this? >> Two-factor authentication for Apple ID - Apple Support

It's got nothing to do with the ISP. Apple's system is either broken or badly designed.

The location offered is based on where the ISP has said that IP address is located.

You can dispute this if you wish, but that is the truth. Apple certainly can, but does not leverage the GPS chip in a device for this notification, only the ISP provided location based on the IP address.

This is published by Apple, and was referenced just 3 entries back in this thread.

Two-factor authentication for Apple ID - Apple Support

Before you label me an Apple fanboy or attach some other derogatory label to me, this has been proven to be true throughout North America, and I see no reason why the UK would be different. ISPs do not reference leased IP addresses to the house and street level. They keep them by blocks and by cities. That UK ISPs may be less "accurate" then others is moot.

Even worse, sometimes Apple are sending the verification code to the device on which I'm actually trying to make the access to an Apple service that requires sign in.

This statement demonstrates you don't understand how 2 Factor Authentication is designed to work. It is designed to work with a single device. A trusted phone is all you need. If you know both the password for an Apple ID, and can then successfully enter the 6 digit verification code sent to a trusted device associated with that Apple ID, it is assumed you are the rightful account holder. The first factor is the password, the second is the verification code.

If a thief has your phone, it is your strong passcode that prevents them from accessing your account, not 2FA. Using your logic, the use of 2FA would require 2 Apple devices. You can have multiple trusted devices, but 2FA will work perfectly with just one. That's why the code comes to the device you trying to access.

2FA protects your Apple account, not your physical phone. A strong passcode protects your phone, not your account.

If a passerby grabs your phone, they should be blocked from getting to the 2FA stage by the strong passcode.

cozycruiser wrote:

I have the same problem. Only when signing in to my Apple ID. My iPhone knows that I am in Washington state (in the Maps program, for example), but it notifies me that someone is trying to sign into my account in Arizona. Why does it think I am a thousand miles away? Perhaps it has something to do with the WiFi in my house, which is a satellite-based service. It's annoying in any case, because it acts like an impostor is trying to sign into my account. Based on the timing, I know it's ME.

If the router your using was originally set up in Arizona (even if just for testing), it might have registered in Apple's data base at that location. I don't know enough about satellite internet to know how that works. But, somehow, the WiFi you're connecting to has been registered in Apple's database as being located somewhere else. There is some anecdotal evidence that if you connect iPhones to the WiFi network, that will, over time, get the network registered where it actually is. Beyond that, there's not much you can do about it.

DGIN123 wrote:

I Have just received the same response, did you ever get to the bottom of this?

Your computer does not have the ability to accurately report its location. It use location information from the internet connection. It's frequently quite wrong.

I am having the same issue. I tried to log in on my phone (a phone I've had for years) and it asked for the code sent to other devices. My computer got a pop-up saying someone in Los Angeles (700 miles away) was trying to log into my account. It spooked me, so I denied, but then it didn't let my phone log in. So I requested another code, got the same pop-up with the same location. This time I authorized, and logged in on the phone. Weird, because it has known where I am in the past. This is a new issue.

Ironically, I was reading this thread, wanted to comment. When I tried to log in it said it was using two-factor security and asked for the code sent to my other devices. I also got a pop-up window on this computer saying that someone in L.A. was trying to use my account. I allowed, and it gave me the code. On the same computer I'm trying to log in with. How is that two-factor security?

patterdale wrote:

Same issue here- including when I signed in to this site using 2-step ID! I'm told a log-in has taken place in Edinburgh, Scotland... I'm in Hampshire, England, almost 500 miles away! Does this mean that if I need to trace my computer (or other devices) using Find My Iphone (etc) it won't work?

As noted, your computer has no built in location capabilities. It relies on the network it's connected to for location information and that's frequently wrong. So, tracing your computer's location is always going to be very difficult. Phones and iPads with cellular capabilities have GPS chips. They can report their location quite accurately.

Blatay wrote:

Except that it's my phone, not my computer, that it's saying is 700 miles away from where it actually was.

I was not replying to you. I was replying to the person who posted a screenshot of their computer.

I understood that. You were suggesting that the problem might be that it is hard to determine where a computer is located since it does not have GPS.

I am suggesting that maybe Apple has a software problem that misidentifies locations since they get it wrong with computers and phones.

Blatay wrote:

I understood that. You were suggesting that the problem might be that it is hard to determine where a computer is located since it does not have GPS.

I am suggesting that maybe Apple has a software problem that misidentifies locations since they get it wrong with computers and phones.

There is no software problem with computers mis-identifying locations. The problem is they have to use inaccurate data sources. The only way Apple could remedy that would be to put a GPS chip in the computer.

If your phone is not showing the properly location, the problem is most likely with your phone, specifically. No one else in this thread has reported such an issue and I haven't heard of this being a significant issue.

Not to be contentious, but to say no one else is reporting the issue with their phone is not correct. Most posts in this thread do not specify what device they are talking about. Some specify that they are talking about their computer. Others specifically mention their iPhone or iOS.

Like another poster in this thread, my phone was showing the proper location in maps, but when I logged into my Apple ID, it sent a message to my computer saying someone was logging in on a phone in a location 700 miles away.

I suspect that it was not an issue with my phone (despite your assertion that is is my phone), but rather something to do with Apple messing up their notifications. Or messing up in how the identified the location of my phone.

I could be wrong and have no insight into how Apple generates those notifications. Perhaps you have information about the problem that I don't.

You may now have the last word since this discussion doesn't really seem to be contributing to the issue.

I was worried initially when I signed into iCloud from my iPhone and had a warning someone was trying to sign into my account from Middlesbrough.

I do have BT Broadband and am connected to the wifi. So looks like it's happening to a number of people.

Little things, make a big difference and if it wasn't for me searching to find out the issue, it might not be a significantl issue but to be told you are being hacked when you're not actually is ridiculous. Apple and feeling like a trusted brand has slowly been going downhill.

if its always the same location (when you are signed in through a particular Wifi network), that is no problem.

Some ISPs give more detailed location information than others, and the location given may be the same for all their users in a particular region of the country.